The Cost of Coffee

Coffee: its rich, heavy smell; the sound of the solid beans against the plastic canister in preparation for brewing; the squealing of the machine; and the taste—resinous and complex. However, have you ever paused to consider coffee for what it is: one of the most valuable commodities on the planet.

When someone says the word ‘commodity’, gold, silver, copper, oil and the like come to mind. Your flat white or latte order is coffee as a product, but the actual bean is the commodity and where the value originates. The coffee industry has a forecasted Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.6% from 2021 to 2025, with millennials fuelling the rise through their caffeine dependence. In Finland—the world’s largest coffee consumers per capita—it has even been legally mandated to have two 10-minute coffee breaks a day. Addiction and illicit substances are often viewed as symbiotic, however just as we are functioning addicts of technology, so too many are blissfully ignorant of their addiction to coffee and its caffeine.

The effects of coffee (synonymous with caffeine) are highly contested. Does it cause insomnia? Nausea? Digestive issues? The short answer is yes, undoubtedly. But digging deep enough into most of one’s daily habits would reveal shocking knocks to human health—poor posture can lead to impaired lung function, headaches, and constricted nerves. The General Social Survey reports that young adults are twice as likely to have constant exhaustion compared to twenty years ago. This could be accountable to a skewed perception of success that constantly streams through social media posts and more visible societal pressures that cause people to believe that unless you are exhausted, then you cannot be working hard enough. ‘Hustle culture’ means working to the point of inanition, neglecting the body’s needs to get a job done. Now more than ever, this merits a badge of honour instead of an advised break. Many have a coffee clutched in their hand to get them through their 15th working hour, or less extreme, as a mere boost to help them function in the morning.

But failure to acknowledge caffeine as a non-trivial stimulant is far too routine. Caffeine is the most frequently used drug in the world, according to the Journal of Caffeine Research. Although some consume caffeine through soft drinks and chocolate, coffee is the primary culprit. Coffee works by blocking adenosine receptors in the brain, which send signals of tiredness and instead increase the release of other chemicals to produce feelings of alertness and concentration. Framing and accepting it gives coffee many more commonalities with amphetamines than with hot chocolate. Coffee does not make a person more alert, it makes them feel more alert, which is a big, extremely artificial, difference. Caffeine has a half-life of 6 hours, even though that initial zing dissipates long before. Consequently, consuming caffeine in the afternoon reduces sleep time by an hour. During sleep, too, caffeine reduces the amount of slow-wave (deep) sleep experienced. Even more alarming, though, is the National Institutes of Health’s finding that consuming two or more caffeinated drinks in the weeks preceding conception increases the risk of miscarriage. Although a meaningful association has been found, studies like this are regularly challenged. Contrastingly, some research has found that each daily coffee reduces your risk of type-2 diabetes by 6%, and a regular coffee reduces your risk of heart disease by 20%. The effects of coffee can be to our bodies. There is a trust and responsibility to consume in moderation and like fast food, cigarettes, and alcohol, coffee is a major income-generating good for producing and consumer nations.

Coffee bean production is vital to many developing economies’ livelihood. Many have the optimal climate for coffee production, something a prosperous, developed economy can never steal. This creates a mutual dependence which is a lifeline for developing countries. Ethiopia, for example, is the home of the coffee bean and maintains its spot as a top global producer. Around 30% of their export earnings come from coffee alone. Fifteen million citizens, or 13% of their population, depend on the coffee industry for their income. Uganda yields 20% of export earnings from coffee production and Honduras depends on coffee for 25% of their export earnings. Without this, these countries would face even more financial obstacles to development, unable to fund public education, healthcare, and other essential sectors. Developing countries must take advantage of their natural resources. Luckily, coffee beans come in abundance unless climate change continues to cause droughts which is an ever-increasing threat to some of these countries.

In developed nations that are further along the supply chain, turning beans into a consumer good, the coffee industry is also a significant income-generator. Starbucks opened over 1,100 stores globally in 2021 alone, and the United Kingdom’s coffee shop market is worth £10.1 billion. 

Our love for coffee, whether in its superficial way that gives a false sense of liveliness or the connoisseur’s deep connection with the aroma and origin is far from dwindling. The industry is expected to continue to grow over the next few years despite the tumultuous economic climate. Coffee is a buyer’s favourite, economically advantageous, and no more harmful than other products readily available to consumers. Its power comes from the easy integration into people’s daily lives and a quickly developed human dependence. If people don’t know the risks, they won’t try and resist this dependence; they will succumb to a daily coffee, thanking it for the perceived boost in energy.

Photo: TechnoServe

Works Cited:

Bock, R. & Daly, M., 2016. Couples’ pre-pregnancy caffeine consumption linked to miscarriage risk. [Online] Available at: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/couples-pre-pregnancy-caffeine-consumption-linked-miscarriage-risk.

Carlström, M. & Larsson, S. C., 2018. Coffee consumption and reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Nutrition Reviews, 76(6), pp. 395-417.

Drake, C., Roehrs, T., Shambroom, J. & Roth, T., 2013. Caffeine Effects on Sleep Taken 0, 3, or 6 Hours before Going to Bed. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 9(11).

Fairtrade, 2020. Coffee Farmers. [Online] Available at: https://www.fairtrade.org.uk/farmers-and-workers/coffee/.

General Social Survey, 2018. GSS. [Online] Available at: https://gss.norc.org.

Mercanta, 2020. Ethiopia. [Online] Available at: https://coffeehunter.com/coffee-country/ethiopia/.

Meredith, S. E., Juliano, L. M., Hughes, J. R. & Griffiths, R. R., 2013. Caffeine Use Disorder: A Comprehensive Review and Research Agenda. Journal of Caffeine Research, 3(3), pp. 114-130.

Pacheco, D. & Vyas, N., 2021. Caffeine and Sleep. [Online] Available at: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/nutrition/caffeine-and-sleep.

Research and Markets, 2021. Global Coffee Market: Insights & Forecast with Potential Impact of COVID-19 (2021-2025), Ghaziabad: Koncept Analytics.

van Dongen, L. H. et al., 2017. Coffee consumption after myocardial infarction and risk of cardiovascular mortality: a prospective analysis in the Alpha Omega Cohort. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 106(4), pp. 1113-1120.